Electronic voice processing systems, also commonly known as voice response systems, voice messaging systems, or voice store and forward systems, operate to store, retrieve or otherwise manipulate data, be it voice or otherwise transmitted via a telephone network which commonly takes the form of a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Such systems may be coupled either directly to phone lines which connect to a Central Office of the PSTN, or indirectly, via an intermediate switching type of mechanism, such as a Private Branch Exchange (PBX) utilized by many organizations to route telephone calls, either incoming or outgoing, and to provide a variety of other functions.
In order to communicate with telephone lines coupled directly to a PSTN or indirectly via an intermediate switch, an electronic voice processing system must be configured to receive and transmit the necessary signals in an order and manner defined either by the PSTN or by the intermediate switch. For example, in order to establish a connection between a calling party and a called party, both parties, be they humans or machines, need to utilize compatible protocols. In many countries such as the United States, devices operating over the PSTN must conform to established standards and operate via established protocols in order to operate effectively. However, even within the United States, a number of different protocols exist for establishing a connection with a Central Office. Intermediate switching mechanisms such as PBX type switches present additional, different protocols.
As noted above, an electronic voice processing system must be configured with the protocol of each type of telephone line to which the system is connected. If multiple lines are connected to the system and if the lines operate under more than one protocol, the system must be configured with the protocol of each of the connected lines. If the type of lines connected to the system are changed, for example by changing the type of intermediate switch to which the system may be connected, then the configuration of the system must be changed to adhere to the requirement of the new type of lines. Changing such a configuration is often a time consuming and difficult process which may require the skills of a person with a specialized knowledge of telephone systems and of the particular type of electronic voice processing system. If the administrator of the electronic voice processing system does not have the required knowledge then the supplier of the system may have to dispatch qualified personnel, sometimes upon very short notice, to reconfigure the system on site in a manner to operate with the connected telephone lines. Such a procedure often is expensive and time-consuming and may result in extended down-time of the voice processing system in question.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism which allows rapid and simple reconfiguration of a voice processing system in order to enable the system to operate with a plurality of different telephone lines and switching equipment.
It is a further object of the present invention to enable such reconfiguration from a location remote from the voice processing system.
It is a further more specific object of the present invention to enable reconfiguration of a voice processing system via predefined sets of configuration parameters and protocol descriptions selectable by an administrator of the voice processing system.
It is a further specific object of the present invention to enable such reconfiguration via entry of values for selected configuration parameters into a text file on a digital computer.